Finding the right hospitality software for your business takes some time. Whether you serve customers solely in brick-and-mortar establishments or are researching what is a ghost kitchen and virtual restaurant, you need several tools.
One of the tools you need is hospitality procurement software. This type of application helps you know how to find vendors and obtain the supplies you need to run your business successfully.
If you’ve never used hospitality procurement software before, there are three questions to answer before buying. Continue reading for the details.
What Is Hospitality Procurement Software?
Hospitality procurement software is any tool or platform that assists hospitality professionals in sourcing, ordering, managing, organizing, and utilizing products. This type of desktop or web-based software is necessary to keep accurate inventory records, conduct demand planning, and reduce shrinkage. ERP systems may also help. Understand the ERP meaning to determine if it's the right software for your business.
Hospitality businesses are service-oriented, which means consumable goods are a key part of their offerings. Such goods include wholesale produce, wholesale seafood, a coffee bean subscription, and other high demand products.
Most of these goods can’t be bought in retail environments or through an eCommerce marketplace online, either. In order to find raw materials inventory or merchandise inventory for their customers, business owners typically search through a wholesale directory or online marketplace.
However, the hospitality software itself may already be integrated with an online marketplace list. This makes it easier to find the supplies a business needs.
The type of goods a hospitality business procures depends on its customers. For example, a bar manager has different product needs than a restaurant owner, or an eCommerce site owner.
The different types of eCommerce businesses and hospitality businesses often mean what works for a competitor may not work for you. In order to choose the right tool, it helps to know hospitality procurement software’s primary uses.
How Is Hospitality Procurement Software Used?
Hospitality procurement software is primarily used to order, track, and designate the goods used by a hospitality business. Employees need to know when specific supplies are coming in so they can plan their work accordingly.
This software is also a necessary component of inventory management, ABC analysis, and reducing dead stock (see deadstock meaning). Teams can’t successfully engage in demand planning unless they have a centralized channel for supplier relationship management and tracking carrying cost.
In order to evaluate both current stock and the materials needed, you need some form of hospitality procurement software. It’s a B2B wholesale gateway from your business to others’, and should integrate with payment gateway providers, too.
What are Some Examples of Hospitality Procurement Software?
By now you’re probably thinking about the kind of hospitality procurement software that may work for you. It’s an important matter to consider, as each platform has different features and advantages.
We researched some of the leading procurement softwares to make life easier for you. Take a look below:
BlueCart
Yes, we’re going to toot our own horn a bit–but all for good reason. Our platform is the best hospitality procurement software, whether you’re a head chef, bar manager, buyer, or hotel manager.
The BlueCart marketplace has thousands of vendors looking for hospitality businesses to work with like your own. Whether you’re restocking your kitchen, replenishing your wine storage racks, or sourcing wholesale produce, you’ll find everything you need through BlueCart.
We’re always reaching out to new suppliers to ensure that buyers on our platform have plenty to choose from. BlueCart makes it easy to find supplies, optimize purchase orders, reduce paperwork, and build long-term supplier relationships.
BlueCart also offers digital catalog tools, low payment processing fees, and an eCommerce SEO-optimized storefront. Book a demo now to see how we can take your business to another level.
Tradogram
Tradogram is another procurement management platform that allows clients to buy or sell goods across a wide variety of verticals. The company launched in 2014 and is based out of Canada.
Tradogram’s claim to fame is their customizable procurement workflows. If you’re sourcing manufacturing inventory in one location but turning them into work in process inventory in another, their software can handle it. You may even need help turning that finished goods inventory into merchandise inventory in yet another region, which is why workflow organization helps.
Caternet (by Zupa)
Caternet is the hospitality procurement software platform created by the SaaS conglomerate Zupa. They are based in the UK and support chefs, restaurants, and hospitality establishments in ordering the supplies they need for their work.
Caternet helps hospitality business owners or managers address key parts of their daily work. From ingredient sourcing and recipe management to sales metrics and reports, they have great features.
Sourcing high quality food and ingredients in the hospitality industry isn’t easy. In addition to finding wholesale vendors who you can trust, you need to find them at a wholesale price you can afford.
Review this list of hospitality procurement software platforms carefully before making a decision. It’s wise to choose a platform based on your unique business needs, not merely what looks the coolest or sounds fanciest.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hospitality Procurement Software
There are a lot of digital tools these days, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to choose one. Such decisions are even more difficult in the hospitality industry, where factors like the types of menu and drink specials affect the supplies you need.
If you’re still sifting through the mountains of information associated with software, we know the feeling. Check out these commonly asked questions about hospitality procurement software and our answers:
What Type of Software Is Best Suited for the Hospitality Industry?
While there’s no best type of software for the hospitality industry, several tools stand out. One, every hospitality business needs some type of procurement software. This is the desktop or cloud-based dashboard you log into that provides
Two, hospitality businesses often need both restaurant inventory software and warehouse management inventory software. An inventory tracking tool logs your inventory, safety stock, and fill rate. This generates useful reorder point estimates so your order management team can request raw materials inventory with enough lead time.
Here is a list of prominent hospitality software companies:
- BlueCart
- FutureLog
- Caternet
- Tradogram
What Is Procurement In the Hospitality Industry?
Procurement is any action or strategy related to obtaining raw or work in process materials in the hospitality industry. This includes both consumable and non-consumable goods.
Such materials may include cocktail ingredients, recipe ingredients, and other foods that all types of chefs need for their work. It can also mean goods like glasses, napkins, silverware, flatware, chairs, boxes, storage (like a wine rack), cooking equipment, and items on a bar supplies list.
What Is Hospitality Software?
Hospitality software is any single tool or grouping of platforms that helps a hospitality business do its work and track results. These tools include features that help users buy materials, track sales, book and update reservations, optimize spending, and reduce error.
The interesting thing about hospitality software is that it varies widely based on the hospitality niche it was built for. For example, hotel hospitality software should always have a room reservation dashboard, whereas a restaurant’s will be set up for tables. Bar hospitality software tracks standard pour cost, whereas restaurant hospitality software will have a feature for recipe costing or any standardized recipe.
Procuring the Raw Materials for Success
Settling on hospitality procurement software after weeks or months of searching is a good feeling. You finally have the tool you need to streamline your inventory, wholesale, and customer service efforts.
Regardless of the software platform you pick, rest easy knowing that increased profits and efficiency are around the corner.